My Items

Sonny Red (as) Clifford Jordan (ts) Tommy Flanagan (p) (*) or Ronnie Matthews (p) Art Davis (b) Elvin Jones (drs)    Recorded in New York City; February 14, 1961

SIDE 1

1. Cumberland Court (3:48) (Clifford Jordan)

2. A Story Tale (4:48) (Clifford Jordan)

3. You’re Driving Me Crazy (5:35) (*) )Walter Donaldson)

4. Defiance (3:23) (*) (Sonny Red)

SIDE 2

1. Prints (5:58) (*) (Sonny Red)

2. Hip Pockets (5:00) (*) (Red Jordan)

3. Falling in Love Is Wonderful (5:12) (*) (Irvin Berlin)

4. If I Didn’t Care (5:13) (Jack Lawrence)

　　　Young musicians seeking to make their way upwards through the difficult and sometimes exasperating highways and byways of the jazz world often form temporary alliances (particularly for recording purposes) for no real reason except that at that time it seems like a good or an arbitrarily “different” idea. Thus, whenever a really logical, meaningful and interesting merger of talents comes along, it stands out from the crowd in sharp contrast, and discerning jazz fans should be alerted to pay special attention.

　　　In our opinion, this recording collaboration between CLIFFOR JORDAN and SONNY RED is one of the particularly valid ones. Not only do Jordan’s full, dark tenor tones and Sonny’s probing, stabbing alto make for a most intriguing, non-conflicting blend of sound, but their frequently contrasting, sometimes melding jazz conceptions seem in turn to provide each other with a challenge and a spur.

　　　Clifford’s unusually-titled A Story Take (it’s dedicated to his young daughter) is used here as an album title to underline the feeling that these two young horn men (both are sill in their twenties) have a great deal to say. Red is part of the apparently never-ending flow of fine jazz talent from Detroit, and his apprenticeship there and in New York has included work with Miles Davis and with Art Blakey. Jordan came East from Chicago, another of the major jazz jumping-off places, and has been part of the quintets of both Max Roach and J. J. Johnson.

　　　We hadn’t even been aware that they necessarily knew each other until they came up with the idea of doing an album together, and fully ready to tackle it. Of the five originals here, two are by Jordan (the title tune and Cumberland Court), two by Red (Defiance and Prints – the latter and intriguing chord-development theme on the order of some of Miles Davis’ recent efforts), and Hip Pockets is a jointly created item.

　　　They had their rhythm section picked out, too, and it turned out to be a most effective one. Detroit-born Elvin Jones, one of the most exciting drummers to come along in years, has most recently been featured with John Coltrane’s quartet. Art Davis is a big-toned, firmly swinging bassist despite (or perhaps because of) considerable symphonic experience; he has also served with both Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie. Dividing the piano spot between the fluent, lyrical Tommy Flanagan (another Detroiter) and young Ronnie Matthews (who had been working with Jordan) was not due to any division of opinion, but is simply a compromise between a mutual (and widely-shared) enthusiasm for Tommy’s work and an equally mutual desire to give a promising newcomer like Matthews a chance to be heard. With his support, Cliff and Sonny proceed to make out an excellent case both for their individual talents and for the wisdom of their decision to work together here. Their joint handling of the well-constructed lines of these five originals and three standards leaves room for really only one egret – that is unfortunately designed as a temporary alliance, for this particular story-tale only.

Red’s previous JAZZLAND LP is:

　　Breezing – Sonny Red, with Blue Mitchell, Yusef Lateef – JLP 32 & Stereo 932S

Other outstanding releases include:

　　Lookin’ at Monk – Johnny Griffin-‘Lockjaw’ Davis Quintet – JLP 39 & Stereo 939S

　　Junior Mance Trio at the Village Vanguard – JLP 41 & Stereo 941S

　　Gemini – Les Spann, flute and guitar – JLP 35 & Stereo 935S

Johnny Griffin (ts) Eddie Davis (ts) Junior Mance (p) Larry Gales (b) Ben Riley (drs)

Recorded in New York City; February 7, 1961

SIDE 1

1. In Walked Bud (4:34)

2. Well, You Needn’t (5:31)

3. Ruby, My Dear(4:39)

4. Rhythm-a-ning (3:53)

SIDE 2

1. Epistrophy (8:36)

2. ‘Round Midnight (5:22)

3. Stickball (I Mean You) (5:55)

(all selections composed by Thelonious Monk)

　　　This is the second Jazzland album by the happy quintet led by the free-swinging tenor sax team of JOHNNY GRIFFIN and EDDIE “LOCKJAW” DAVIS. It also marks one of the extremely rare occasions (I can think of only one other – except of course those made by the composer himself) on which an album has been entirely devoted to the music of Thelonious Monk.

　　　The rareness of such a tribute to Monk’s writing is actually not too hard to understand, for the truth is that, beyond a very few often-attempted exceptions, Thelonious’ numbers are regarded by most musicians as somewhat too tough to be readily talked. But this brash, robust and fearless group is certainly a logical choice for the job – both because Lock and Griff refuse to consider anything too tough for them, and because they are musically and emotionally closely in tune with Monk’s music. As you might expect, there is nothing at al pretentious here. There is instead a strong cutting-through to the warm, earthy, deeply blues-based and frequently witty spirit that lies at the foundation of Thelonious’ work.

　　　The idea for the album originally emerged from the fact that several Monk tunes had gradually become part of the quintet’s working repertoire. In large part this was due to the great fondness for this music felt by Griffin (who had been featured with Monk’s Quartet during most of 1958), and also to a realization of just how apt this material was for them. “There is a certain rhythmic freedom in almost all his compositions that makes them ideal for us,” Johnny notes, “since above all we always try to generate a feeling of freedom with this group.”

　　　Among their ‘regular’ numbers here are an extended treatment of Monk’s long-time theme, Epistrophy, and the tune best known as I Mean You – which they insist on calling by what Johnny informs us was its original title: Stickball. There are also two ballads – ‘Round Midnight and Ruby My Dear – as solo showcases for Griffin and Davis respectively.

　　　The quintet, which has received wide acclaim since it inception in May, 1960, draws much of its strength from the almost uncanny rapport between its two free-blowing co-leaders. Both of course had previously established strong individual reputations with groups of their own (and with earlier backgrounds including Lockjaw’s service with Count Basie’s band in the early ‘50s, and Johnny’s stints with Art Blakey and Monk). Their fine rhythmic support comes from bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley and, in particular, the very blues-inspired and thoroughly swinging piano of Junior Mance.

　　　(Eddie Davis, who recorded this material through the courtesy of Prestige Records, has now joined Johnny Griffin as an exclusive Jazzland and Riverside artist.)

The quintet’s first JAZZLAND album is:

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

Other outstanding recent releases include:

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　Eastward Ho! – Harold Land, with Kenny Dorham – JLP 33 & Stereo 933S

　　Gemini – Les Spann, flute and guitar – JLP 35 & Stereo 935S

Wild Bill Moore (ts) Junior Mance (p) Joe Benjamin (b) Ben Riley (drs) Ray Barretto (cng)

Recorded in New York City; January 25, 1961

SIDE 1

1. Heavy soul (6:43) (Bill Moore)

2. A Good ‘Un (5:55) (Mance-Moore)

3. Tearin’ Out (5:23) (Bill Moore

SIDE 2

1. Wild Bill’s Beat (6:46) (Bill More)

2. Things Are Getting Better (5:09) (Cannonball Adderley)

3. Bubbles (5:12) (Bill Moore)

4. Just You, Just Me (5:13) (Klages-Greer)

　　　This is an album that has its heart and soul thoroughly steeped in the blues. Actually only three of the seven selections qualify as blues in the strict twelve-bar sense; but as everyone should know, words like “blues” and “soul” have very little to do with book definitions. They are a state of mind, and that state of mind is fully and consistently present here.

　　　If you are looking for delicate and subtle meanderings, please just go away quietly. But if you’re in the mood for something that swings and rocks and digs deep into the earthy soil of jazz, chances are that the beat and spirit generated by WILD BILL MOORE and company, will gas you Four of the tunes are by Bill: Heavy Soul, Wild Bill’s Beat, Tearin’ Out (named in honor of Moore’s pep-talk phrase before almost every take: “Let’s tear out!”), and Bubbles (a new version of a number that was a large-scale ht of 1948. A Good ‘un is a gospel-tinged item that is a joint creation of Moore and the soulful Chicago-born pianist, Junior Mance. There’s also cannonball Adderley’s down-home swinger, Things Are Getting Better; and Just You, Just me long a favorite vehicle for jazz blowing.

　　　Texas-born Williams M. Moore began his career in the 1930s, as an alto player. Among his early jazz memories is of playing at a jam session in Omaha in which the late great tenorman “Chu Berry also took part. Apparently impressed by Moore, Berry offered advice that night which Bill says has always played a big part in his attitude towards music. Said Chu: “Don’t ever be afraid to blow, no matter who’s in the house.”

　　　After a brief period in Detroit when he came close to giving up music for a career as a fighter, Moore made the switch to tenor and started keeping busy. He led his own group in the New England area; was a bandmaster during his Army service; worked with Red Allen and Ben Webster at the Garrick Lounge in Chicago; played with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Louis Armstrong; ran mid-1940s modern jazz sessions in Los Angeles that featured such then-newcomers as Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan; toured with one of the first “Jazz at the Philharmonic” groups – to pick just a few highlights out of a hectic and traveled career.

　　　Late in 1947 he returned to Detroit and recorded Bubbles and a number titled We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll (credited with actually providing the name for you-know-what kind of music). By a reverse twist these two hits, which had an appeal spilling far outside the borders of the jazz area, created a demand that brought Moore into the rock and roll field, except for only occasional jazz appearances, for several years.

Now Wild Bill is making his move back to jazz. He is sparked here by the firm rhythm backing of Ray Barretto on conga, bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Ben riley, and gets a particularly strong helping hand from the funky piano of Junior Mance (who has been featured with Cannonball Adderley and Dizzy Gillespie and is now leading his own trio). From where we sit and listen, it sounds as if Wild Bill has certainly found his way back home.

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　Lookin’ at Monk – Johnny Griffin and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis – JLP 39 & Stereo 939S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　Getting’ Together – Paul Gonsalves, with Nat Adderley – JLP 36 & Stereo 936S

　　Gemini – Les Spann, flute and guitar – JLP 35 & Stereo 935S

Joe Harriott (as) Harry South (p) Hank Shaw (tp) (*) or Shake Keane (tp, fhr) Coleridge Goode (b) Bobby Orr (drs) Frank Holder (bng) (*)

Recorded in London, England; May 5, 1959 and (*) April 8 & 21, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Still Goofin’ (2:45) (Joe Harriott)

2. Count Twelve (3:38) (Joe Harriott)

3. Senor Blues (4:00) (Horace Silver)

4. Southern Horizons (*) (6:33) (Harry South)

5. Jumpin’ with Joe (3:28) (Harry South)

SIDE 2

1. Liggin’ (*) (5:48) (Harry South)

2. Caravan (*) (5:40) (Tizol-Ellington)

3. You Go to My Head (*) (6:32) (Gillespie-Coots)

4. Tuesday Morning Swing (*) (3:00) (Joe Harriott)

　　　Jazz is probably as popular today in Scandinavia, France, and Britain as it is in the United States, but, because it is not indigenous, it is seldom taken for granted there in the way it is in its homeland. The audience is knowing, inquisitive and persistent, but these very qualities tend to a degree to inhibit the playing of the European musician. There is a pressure upon him to conform to the American image, and it is extremely difficult for him to create outside that pattern. He knows only too well that a large section of his audience regards him as a substitute for the real thing. Nevertheless, the gap between American and European jazz standards has been steadily narrowing since World War II.

　　　This ‘narrowing’ process was furthered by the appearance on the post-war British scene of a number of musicians who were not European and who consequently neither knew nor cared about those inhibitions which afflicted European jazz. Britain, licking its war wounds and rebuilding, had been conditions and a labor shortage. So, like their brothers and fathers during the war years, many people n the British West Indies took ship for England. Among them were such musicians as Dizzy Reece (the only one to date to have attempted the further step of trying to establish himself on the American scene), Joe Harriott and Coleridge Goode from Jamaica, and Shakespeare Keane from St. Vincent.

　　　To them, a big sprawling city like London represented a challenge in itself. But there was work and a common tongue, and they gradually found a place for themselves sin that metropolitan music world. They brought to it something a little different, too, something more extroverted and abandoned than was its norm.

　　　JOE HARRIOTT, who had learned clarinet of school, soon began t make a name for himself as a saxophonist. He played tenor and baritone, but it was his driving alto that attracted attention. He took all kinds of gigs, went to the Paris Festival with Tony Kinsey in 1954, joined the big band of British modern-jazz pioneer Ronnie Scott the following year, then reverted to small combinations, and two Londoners and a Scot (drummer Bobby Orr). In 1960, “Shake” Keane, erstwhile native of St. Vincent and student of classics at London University, replaced Harry Show on trumpet and introduced the flugelhorn into the group.

　　　Almost a year separates the sessions represented here. It was a year that saw a steady growth in popularity for the Harriott quintet. (The group is at times augmented to sextet size here by the addition of Frank Holder, formerly featured with Johnny Dankworth’s orchestra, on bongos, but this increase was or recording purposes only.) The band’s instrumentation, neat arrangements and routines, swinging rhythm section and forthright horn solos distinguished it from the competition, as did the originals written by the leader and by pianist Harry South. (Three selections by each man are included here.)

　　　But it should be noted that, once established, Harriott and his men, all in their thirties, were not for standing still. They are attuned to their times, ambitious, and not lacking in courage. This album was for them a kind of launching pad. We commend it to your attention, but we also advise you to look forward to their very different second album on Jazzland – which will show what happened when they blasted off from here in new directions!

STANLEY DANCE

Another JAZZLAND album of British jazz is:

　　The Message from Britain – tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott jazz Couriers – JLP 34 & Stereo 934S

Other outstanding LPs include:

　　Lookin’ at Monk – ‘Lockjaw’ Davis – Johnny Griffin Quintet – JLP 39 & Stereo 939S

　　Junior Mance Trio at the Village Vanguard – JLP 41 & Stereo 941S

　　Gemini – Les Spann, flute ad guitar, with Julius Watkins – JLP 35 & Stereo 935S

　　Getting’ Together – Paul Gonsalves, with Nat Adderley – JLP 36 & Stereo 936S

　　Harold Land in New York, with Kenny Dorham – JLP 33 & Stereo 933S

　　A Story Tale – Clifford Jordan and Sonny Red – JLP 40 & Stereo 940S

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

Paul Gonsalves (ts) Nat Adderley (cnt) Wynton Kelly (p) Sam Jones (b) Jimmy Cobb (drs)

Recorded in New York City; December 20, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Yesterdays (3:35) (Kern-Hartbach)

2. J. and B. Blues (4:57) (J. Liveramento)

3. I Surrender Dear (*) (4:28) (Barris-Clifford)

4. Hard Groove (4:57) (unknown)

SIDE 2

1. Low Gravy (7:51) (Jelly Roll Morton)

2. I Cove the Waterfront (*) (4:06) (Green-Heyman)

3. Getting’ Togerther (4:54) (Babs Gonsalez)

4. Walkin’ (*) (4:47) (Richard Carpenter)

(*) Gonsalves and rhythm section only)

About This New Jazzland Recording –

　　　PAUL GONSALVES is one of those known as an “Ellington musician” – and quite properly so, for he has been a key member of the Duke’s sax section for a full decade. Being a long-time Ellington man is in itself a solid stamp of approval, for that leader had always managed to surround himself with top-level men, and has certainly never tolerated mediocrity for very long. Over the years, Duke’s sidemen have of course often led groups on records. But perhaps the most intriguing fact about this album is the quickly-obvious point that it is a most unusual recording to have been made by an “Ellington musician,” breaking all the ‘rules’ for such dates. For there are no other Ellingtonians, past or present, on hand here, and no tunes associated with the Duke!

　　　Quite deliberately, Gonsalves is “Getting’ Together” here with some of the best ‘blowing’ musicians available for a free-swinging session that demonstrates Paul(s ability to stand up and take care of business in a very different context from the one he is usually associated with. The tenor man (whose big, round, hearty tone is in sharp contrast to his than face and quiet manner) can play with the best of them. And this fact has never been a secret to musicians. Thus the kind of men he wanted to have on his album turned out to be delighted at being offered the chance to get with Gonsalves. It is therefore no accident that you find him surrounded by top talent from two of the foremost small groups in jazz today: Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb being two-thirds of Miles Davis’ rhythm section; and Sam Jones and Nat Adderley from the Cannonball Adderley Quintet.

　　　Gonsalves was born in Boston (on July 12, 1920) and raised in Pawtucker, Rhode Island. In the early 1940s he was a prominent member of Sabby Lewis’ Boston band; after Army service, he played with Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie before joining Ellington in 1950.

　　　Paul wryly notes that most people know of him primarily because of the sensational impact of the 28 (or was it 29?) choruses he played between Crescendo in Blue and Diminuendo in Blue during an Ellington appearance at a Newport Jazz Festival in the late ‘50s. But his repertoire here covers a lot more ground than that: beginning with a remarkable soft-swinging version of the standard Yesterdays, he moves through a collection of hard-cookers, blues and ballads (displaying an unsuspected and impressive masterly of ballad tempo on I Surrender Dear and I Cover the Waterfront). It is all accomplished in a manner that sure to be a considerable and pleasant surprise to a lot of people who have previously type-cast Gonsalves as limited to the strictly-Ellington groove.

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　Eastward Ho! – Harold Land, with Kenny Dorham – JLP 33 & Stereo 933S

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

Les Spann (fl-*, g) Julius Watkins (frh) Tommy Flanagan (p) Sam Jones (b) Albert Heath (drs-*) or Louis Hayes (drs)    Recorded in New York City; December 8* and 16, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Smile (*) (6:10) (Donald Heywood)

2. Con Alma (3:33) (Dizzy Gillespie)

3. Q’s Dues Blues (6:11) (Les Spann)

4. It Might As Well Be Spring (*) (4:41) (Hammerstein-Rodgers)

SIDE 2

1. Stockholm Sweetnin’ (5:31) (Quincy Jones)

2. Blues for Genini (*) (4:27) (Julius Watkins)

3. Afterthought (*) (5:04) (Les Spann)

4. There Is No Greater Love (4:46) (Symes-Jones)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　“Gemini,” the constellation that forms the third sign of the zodiac, is pictorially represented as having the shape of a set of twins, sitting side by side. Not that we intend to get too deeply into the astrology of the situation, but the fact is that LES SPANN, who is the focal point of this unusual-sounding album, was born under this sign. When you consider also that Les is one of those extreme rarities in jazz, an artists equally worth listening to on two quite dissimilar instruments, the twins aspect of this LP is sharply underlined. We won’t go quite so far as to say that it was inevitable that his would be a swinging and successful album because it was written in the stars, but you can draw your own conclusions …

　　The “twin” talents of les Spann are actually the key to the construction of this record. On all selections there is a formidable rhythm section and the mellow-but-spirited French horn of Julius Watkins, by all odds the finest jazz performer on that off-trail instrument. On four tunes, this combination is led by the rich sound of Spann’s flute; on the other four, it is Les’ brilliant guitar work that is featured. Both sets of sound-blends make for uncommonly intriguing listening.

　　　Leslie L. Spann, Jr., was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on May 23, 1923 (just two days into the Gemini period). Attracted to the guitar since childhood because he “always liked the sound,” he taught himself to play it while attending high school in New York. Then, becoming a music major at Tennessee State University in Nashville, he selected the flute when required to learn a second instrument. Spann’s return to New York City in 1957 coincided with the Army draft call of his friend, guitarist Calvin Newborn, who recommended Les to take his place with brother Phineas Newborn’s group. IN August ’58, he began on active year with Dizzy Gillespie’s quintet, working alongside bassist Sam Jones. In ’59 Les joined the Quincy Jones band for a European tour and at this writing is still a member of that impressive group of inter-continental travelers.

　　　Spann is heard on flute here on two standards: a swinging version of the oldie, Smile, and a ballad treatment of It Might As Well Be Spring; plus an uptempo blues by Julius Watkins titled in honor of Les’ zodiac sign, and Afterthought, a moody piece written by Span in his Nashville days. The guitar numbers include a gentle There Is No Greater Love, two notable compositions by the major band-leader in Les’ life (Quincy’s Stockholm Sweetinin’ and Dizzy’s Con Alma), and a Spann original dedicated to Quincy Jones’ Q’s Dues Blues.

　　　In addition to Watkins (who is also a key man in Quincy’s orchestra), Spann’s support here comes from a very solid section: Sam Jones’ masterful bass, the lyrical Tommy Flanagan on piano, and “Jazztet” drummer Al Heath on the guitar numbers, replaced on the flute session by Louis Hayes, who is Sam Jones’ rhythm partner in the Cannonball Adderley quintet. Hayes filled in when other commitments made Heath unavailable, and it wasn’t until much later that it was noted that both men are not only Gemini’s, but share the same May 31 birthday! Like we said, it was all in the stars …

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　Eastward Ho! – Harold Land, with Kenny Dorham – JLP 33 & Stereo 933S

　　Breezing – Sonny Red, with Blue Mitchell, Yusef Lateef – JLP 32 & Stereo 932S

Tubby Hayes (ts, vib, fl) Ronnie Scott (ts) Terry Shannon (p) Kenny Napper (b) Phil Seamen (drs)

Recorded in London, England; June 26 and July 3, 1959

SIDE 1

1. If This Isn’t Love (5:45) (Harburg – Lane)

2. Easy to Love (2:45) (Cole Porter)

3. Whisper Not (3:07) (Benny Golson)

4. Autumn Leaves (4:30) (Mercer – Kosma Pervert)

SIDE 2

1. Too Close for Comfort (5:30) (Weiss – Bock – Holofener)

2. Yesterdays (7:23) (Harburg – Kern)

3. Love Walked In (3:45) (I & G Gershwin)

(front cover)

Notice

　　　The message from Britain is that everything is rally swinging on an American-style plan – particularly when tenor stars Hayes and Scott are playing jazz that’s as exciting and full-blowing as you could hope to hear anywhere in the world.

(back cover)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　In April of 1957, tow formidable British tenor men teamed up to form a group which they called “The Jazz Couriers.” During more than two and a half years together, the Couriers developed into an extremely close-knit unit, winning considerable acclaim in England and Europe. British jazz critic Tony Hall, although some of his enthusiasm might perhaps have stemmed from the fact that he was recording the group, is much too sound and respected an observer of his local jazz scene to make unsupportable statements; yet he went so far as to call this “the best band there has ever been since the advent of modern jazz in Britain” – and the evidence of this album clearly shows that he was not putting himself out on a limb.

　　　The two men whose signatures this “Message from Britain” bears are TUBBY HAYES – only 24 when this LP was recorded, but almost universally highly approved by American musicians who have visited Britain; and RONNIE SCOTT – nine years older and considered one of the important pioneers of modern jazz in England. This album was the final effort by their joint group; it serves to show how much and how well these men have learned from America. Hayes, for example, has pointed out this debt to such as Sonny Rollins and Johnny Griffin; the influence is definite, but not at al inhibiting.

　　　Edward Brian Hayes was born in London in 1935; encouraged by his musician father, he took up the violin at he age of eight, switched to tenor sax four years later, and at 16 began four years with various name bands, including those of Ambrose, Vic Lewis and Jack Parnell. In 1955 he formed his own octet. The following year, spurred on by his friend and fellow-countryman Victor Feldman (now an integral part of Cannonball Adderley’s famous quintet), he took up the vibes. He is heard on this instrument on Autumn Leaves and on Benny Golson’s Whisper Not (the only on-standard tune on the album). Tubby further proves his versatility by making his recorded debut on flute on Yesterdays; and he is also to be credited as arranger of all seven selections.

　　　Ronnie Scott is also a Londoner, born there in 1927. He also has a big-band background, having played with Ted Heath and Jack Parnell among others. IN ’52 he left Parnell to form the first of his own groups. He toured the United States in ’55, and most recently has been operating his own jazzclub in London. As the first British modern jazz tenorman to make a national name for himself at home, he has exerted a strong influence on younger musicians.

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Quintet – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　Eastward Ho! – Harold Land, with Kenny Dorham – JLP 33 & Stereo 933S

　　Breezing – Sonny Red, with Blue Mitchell, Yusef Lateef, Barry Harris – JLP 32 & Stereo 932S

Harold Land (ts) Kenny Dorham (tp) Amos Trice (p) Clarence Jones (b) Joe Peters (drs)

Recorded in New York City; July 5 & 8, 1960

SIDE 1

1. So in Love (5:58) (Cole Porter)

2. Triple Trouble (5:46) (Amos Trice)

3. Slowly (7:02) (David Raksin)

SIDE 2

1. On a Little Street in Singapore (7:07)

2. Okay Blues (12:17) (Harold Land)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　In this album, the combination of one of the “hardest” (and best) West Coast tenormen and an outstanding New York-based trumpet star produces an abundance of unpretentious, free-swinging jazz, spotlighting the spirited, highly individual solo work of HAROLD LAND and KENNY DORHAM.

　　　The LP came into being as a sort of reunion between these two long-time friends who, although they have much in common, have only rarely had opportunities to play together. Land, Texas-born (in December, 1928) but raised in San Diego and now a resident of Los Angeles, has rarely left the West Coast – except for his 1954-55 stay with the Max Roach-Clifford Brown group. Dorham, also a Texan by birth and four years older than Harold, has been an important fixture on the Eastern jazz scene since the mid-‘40s. While Land was with the roach quintet, Kenny would often sit in, and a strong mutual admiration developed; but Harold had left the group to rejoined his family in J.A. (his replacement was Sonny Rollins) before Dorham entered the band following the death of Clifford Brown.

　　　Except for their joint appearance as sidemen on an album by altoist Herb Geller a few years back, Land and Dorham had never recorded together until the Summer of 1960. At that time Harold arrived in New York as part of a Shorty Rogers quintet that also included the rhythm section with which Land had for some time been working in Los Angeles. The fact that Rogers, one of the deans of the now-declining West Coast “cool jazz” movement, had asked Harold to join him and had ended up using Land’s quartet I its entirety, is certainly a sign of changing times and increasing good fortune for Land, who for several years in California had found his hard-bop style out of fashion and quite over-shadowed by the cool.

　　　Jazzland utilized Harold’s presence in New York to set up a record date, as a follow-up to his first LP for the label (which had been cut in the West and features guitarist West Montgomery and trumpeter Joe Gordon). Land, while availing himself of the unity of his accustomed rhythm trio, suggested that he could also work to advantage with Dorham. The strong mutual rapport between them and the way each seems to take fire from the other underlines the wisdom of that choice.

　　　Two of the selections here are originals: Triple Trouble, an unusual waltz from the pen of pianist Amos Trice; and Okay Blues, dedicated by Land to a & r man Orrin Keepnews (whose initials are “O.K.”). The others are Harold’s treatments of relatively unfamiliar standards. Street in Singapore dates back to the 1930’s; So in Love is a Cole Porter show tune; and the ballads, Slowly, is the work of David Raksin (almost exclusively known as the composer of Laura).

Land’s previous JAZZLAND album is-:

　　West Coast Blues – Harold Land, with Wes Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

Other recent releases include:

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

Sonny Red (as) Blue Mitchell (tp) Yusef Lateef (ts) Barry Harris (p) Bob Cranshaw (b) Albert Heath (drs) (* these four selections by Sonny Red and rhythm section only)

Recorded in New York; November 3, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Brother B. (5:02) (Sonny Red)

2. All I Do Is Dram of You (4:03) (Freed-Brown) (*)

3. The New Blues (5:34) (Sonny Red)

4. Ditty (4:36) (Sonny Red) (*)

SIDE 2

1. ‘Teef (6:28) (Sonny Red)

2. Breezing (6:06) (Sonny Red)

3. A Handful of Stars (4:42) (Lawrence-Shapiro) (*)

4. If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You (2:50) (Deitz-Shwartz) (*)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　The fluently swinging and extremely lyrical alto sax sound featured here belongs to an unpretentious young man whose personality is clearly reflected in his work. Unlike many of his contemporaries, the young musician who calls himself ‘SONNY RED’ does not think he is going to revolutionize jazz. “Music,” he feels, “should be rhythmic and melodic, and I just try to do something that comes natural.” His almost shockingly uncomplex viewpoint has produced, in this particular case, a consistently happy, relaxed, heavily blues-flavored and highly enjoyable set of results – a most impressive argument in favor of Sonny’s unstuffy and uncluttered approach to jazz.

　　　Born Junior Sylvester Kyner in Detroit on December 17, 1932, Sonny Redd started doing what “comes natural” in high school, where he first took up the study of music and the C-melody saxophone. Pianist Barry Harris, a key member of the supporting cast here, was a high school friend and offered Sonny his first jazz job. Red first switched to alto when he joined Barry’s group in 1949, took up tenor for a few months while with trombonist Frank Rossolino in ’54, but returned permanently to alto when he joined Art Blakey in the Fall of that year. In 1955 serious lung trouble almost put an end to his career, but after having been hospitalized for a hear and a half, he became active again in April, 1957, playing with Blakey and Miles Davis and then doing a series of local concerts with Detroiters Harris, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef (another longtime friend, whose rich tenor-sax tones contribute greatly to the sextet numbers of this album).

　　　Sonny’s first migration to New York came late in ’57, but except for a few record dates as a sideman there was little work (in his own words: “I wasn’t ready yet at all”). In August of the following year he returned t Detroit, and spent the next hear working there and in a variety of Midwestern and Canadian locations. Now he has returned to New York with a strong determination to make the move a permanent and successful one. The evidence at hand seems to indicate that he certainly is ready now.

　　　Sonny Red’s first Jazzland album is clearly stamped with his mark. In addition to contributing five of the tunes (the other three are seldom-heard standards chosen by him), he hand-picked the very good company in which he plays. Beside home-town friends Harris and Lateef, there is one of today’s most highly-regarded younger trumpet stars, Blue Mitchell to lend a strong hand on the sextet selections (“I just seem to play better with Blue,” Sonny notes). The rhythm support includes Bob Cranshaw (the impressive bassist of Chicago’s “M.J.T. Plus Three quintet), and Albert Heath, currently the anchor-man of the Art Farmer-Benny Golson “Jazztet.”

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Quintet – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　Wes　t Coast Blues – Harold Land, with Wes Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

West Coast Blues – Harold Land, with Wes Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

Johnny Griffin (ts) Eddie Davis (ts) Junior Mance (p) Larry Gales (b) Ben Riley (drs)

Recorded in New York City; November 4 & 19, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Tickle Toe (5:25) (Lester Young)

2. Save Your Love for Me (7:04) (Buddy Johnson)

3. Twins (6:29) (Griffin-Davis)

SIDE 2

1. Funky Fluke (9:11) (Benny Green)

2. Imagination (4:25) (Burke-Van Heusen)

3. Soft Winds (7:14) (Benny Goodman)

(front cover)

　　　“This is booting, belting jazz in the old tradition, though the group is essentially a modern one. Its two leaders … blend their horns beautifully, producing big, gutsy sound that is all virility and a yard wide. If you are afflicted with fears that jazz is about to wander up some intellectual alley to be lost forever in the more arid areas of classical music, a good, hard listen to the group that saxophonists Davis and Griffin are now fronting should soothe them … This is five men swinging up a storm, and jazz is fortunate that such men exist to feed it,”

Gene Lees, in Down Beat

(back cover)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　One night in May of 1960, two of the most exciting, booting tenor men of this or just about any other era got together over a drink at Birdland and that was the beginning of the JOHNNY GRIFFIN-EDDIE “LOCKJAW” DAVIS Quintet, which (as Down Beat’s editor puts it in the review quoted n the cover) has been “swinging up a storm” ever since.

　　　Griffin and Davis were brought together by their realization that they are unusually compatible musicians. Both have always considered a truly swinging beat the most important asset, both are extremely full-toned and agile on tenor, and both have throughout their careers kept up with the times without losing any of those basics of beat and sound. Individually they are well-established on the jazz scene. Griffin, regarded as one of today’s top improvisers, was born in Chicago in 1928. He has been featured with such stars as Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk and has led his own groups in clubs and on records. “Lockjaw,” New York born and seven years the older, began his career in the early ‘40s, and has always retained a swing feeling (his own favorites include Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster). Davis amassed considerable big-band experience, most notably with Count Basie in the early ‘50s, and was also most successfully teamed with organist Shirley Scott in the years just before his merger with Griffin.

　　　Together, the two make the tough, rousing, good-time spirit of jazz come alive within a thoroughly modern context, as they explore all facets of the two-tenor scene – unison, solo, swapping and what-have-you. They are mostly ably assisted by the very earthy piano of Junior Mance (don’t miss his background comments on Soft Winds), by bassist Larry Gales (a cousin and student of George Duvivier), and by Ben Riley, whom Gene Lees has rightly called “a most impressive young drummer.”

　　　The quintet’s repertoire is a happy mixture that includes an emphasis on neglected material from the Swing Era. “We are trying to bring back older tunes with a different flavor,” Lockjaw points out, “tunes with more substance and feeling to them, that get in that good groove. Many composers today tend to get too cold and mathematical. We don’t want that ‘space music’; we don’t want to get too far away from the public.”

　　　His statement is quite clearly demonstrated right at the start by the warm and lively version of a 1940 Basie band number, Lester Young’s Tickle Toe. The first solo is by “Jaws” (to simplify the identification problem, note that Eddie blows first on al numbers except Imagination, a ballad turned over completely to Johnny). Towards the close of Tickle Toe comes the first of several occasions on which the tenors swap fours, and (to quote Lees once again) “it is a kick to hear the one repeating complex figures of the other virtually verbatim.”

　　　Two easy-swinging selections, Save Your Love for Me and the Benny Goodman Sextet specially, Soft Winds, are also in the Griffin-Davis “older tunes with a difference” vein, while their own Twins and Benny Green’s roaring Funky Fluke demonstrate how well and wittily Johnny and Lockjaw can cook at a fast-and-furious pace.

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　Guitar Groove – Rene Thomas, with JR Monterose – JLP 27 & Stereo 927S

　　West Coast Blues – Harold Land, with West Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

Junior Mance (p) Ben Tucker (b) Bobby Thomas (drs)

Recorded in New York City; October 25, 1960

SIDE 1

1. The Uptown (4:02) (Julian Mance)

2. Ralph’s New Blues (4:20) (Milt Jackson)

3. Main Stem (4:21) (Duke Ellington)

4. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup (3:38) (Anna Socenco)

5. Playhouse (4:14) (Julian Mance)

SIDE 2

1. Sweet and Lovely (3:55) (Arnheim – Tobias – Lemare)

2. Oo-Bla-Dee (4:36) (Mary Lou Williams)

3. I Don’t Care (4:27) (Ray Bryant)

4. Swingmatism (5:12) (Scott – Mcshann)

About this NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　This album marks the first appearance of a new trio led by a most warm-sounding and firmly swinging young pianist. It is our strong feeling that you’ll be hearing a great deal from this JUNIOR MANCE group in clubs and on records from now on.

　　　Advance enthusiasm has been particularly stirred up by the unusual and catchy rhythms of the album’s opening track, The Uptown. It’s a tune that came about more or less by accident, Mance notes. “The trio was rehearsing one day, and it just happened.” But if this specific number was an impromptu creation, Junior’s deeply soulful piano style is decidedly not something that just happened. Although barely into his thirties, Mance has a solid and impressive background.

　　　Born Julian Clifford Mance, Jr., in Chicago on October, 1928, he studied music first with private teachers and then at Roosevelt College. “I was a boogie woogie pianist then, and I never really got it all out of my system … Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons were my favorites then.” In 1947 Junior went on the road with Gene Ammons, Albert’s noted tenor-playing son. He spent the next year with Lester Young, then returned to Ammons, after which Uncle Sam beckoned. Mance played in the Army band at Fort Knox. Kentucky, and in ’53, once again a civilian, became a member of the house rhythm section at the Beehive Lounge in Chicago. There he worked with Young, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Stitt. From 1954 until he formed his present trio in 1960, Mance accompanied Dinah Washington and played with such groups as Cannonball Adderley’s and Dizzy Gillespie’s.

　　　“I’ve wanted to have my own group for a long time,” Junior notes, “and I prefer a trio because it allows for more freedom with less headaches. Now I think I may be ready.” That Mance, Ben Tucker and Bobby Thomas are a good, close-knit – and ready – team is very evident, for this entire album was recorded in only two and a half hours of actual working time!

Junior Mance’s broad jazz tastes are clearly reflected in the selections he chose to play here. “Some musicians are overdoing this ‘gospel’ thing nowadays, so I was a little hesitant about recording The Uptown. It’s a blues with that kind of feeling and with a rhythm that has a pause in it that makes it a little bit different.” But Mance’s treatment of this and other tunes here only goes to prove that, in the right hands, the “gospel thing” has tremendous validity and appeal.

　　　Of the other numbers, Playhouse is another Mance original. Ralph’s New Blues is Milt Jackson’s bow to jazz critic Ralph Gleason, first recorded a few years back by the Modern Jazz Quartet. Oo-Bla-Dee is a Mary Lou Williams tune of the late ‘40s. I Don’t Care is Ray Bryant (who had forgotten he had written it); Junior first played this a few years ago with Cannonball and a big studio band. Main Stem was learned from Duke Ellington’s 1942 band recording; Swingmatism similarly was added t Mance’s repertoire after he came across the 1941 Jay McShann record of it. Sweet and Lovely is a standard he ahs always been partial to; and Darling “was so pretty on Nat Cole’s recording that I decided to see what I could do with it.”

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　Guitar Groove – Rene Thomas, with JR Monterose – JLP 27 & Stereo 927S

　　Out of This World – Walter Benton, with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Freddie Hubbard – JLP 28 & Stereo 928S

　　West Coast Blues – Harold Land, with Wes Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

Dexter Gordon (t) Martin Banks (tp) Richard Boone (tb) Charles “Dolo” Coker (p) Charles Green (b) Lawrence Marable (drs)    Recorded in Los Angeles; October 13, 1960

SIDE 1

1. Home Run (5:06) (Dexter Gordon)

2. Dolo (6:14) (Charles Coker)

3. Lovely Lisa (7:16) (Charles Coker)

SIDE 2

1. Affair in Havana (7:38) (Charles Coker)

2. Jodi (6:41) (Dexter Gordon)

3. Field Day (6:41) (Charles Coker)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　This album marks a notable occasion – the welcome and long-overdue return of DEXTER GORDON to the recording studio after several years’ absence.

　　　The obvious question that comes to mind, of course, is: how and why was it possible for one of the major figures of the Bop Era of the 1940s, a deeply-felt influence on virtually every tenor man who has followed him, to move into the background? And the answer, as it so often is in such cases, is primarily that Dexter never really left the scene. Instead, it would be much more accurate to say that the scene left him. For, in the early ‘50s, when Gordon returned from New York to his hometown of Los Angeles, that cool, ‘intellectual’ style known as “West Coast Jazz” had come into vogue. This music was, to say the least, quite a contrast to the robust, swinging approach of an East Coast-oriented musician like Dexter. Consequently, during the dominance of the cool over West Coast jazz in general and recording in particular, the services of even so large a talent as Dexter’s (as well as those of promising swingers like Harold Land and Teddy Edwards) were not in much demand, except for a slim scattering of local gigs.

　　　But more recently the tide has begun to turn. The general upsurge of harder, blues-flavored, soulful jazz, which has reached nationwide proportions, seems to have much to do with it. In any event, 1960 saw Dexter’s music featured on-stage in the Los Angeles version of the play, “The Connection,” and it was also the year in which Jazzland, during a California recording trip, was able to set down these examples of the current high level of his playing.

　　　“Resurgence” is defined as meaning “a rising again,” which is why this album is so titled. This is not the return of a dormant talent, but rather a rising up, back to richly deserved attention, of an artist who clearly has lost none of the strength, agility and full-powered tone that made him a pace-setter.

　　　The full story of Dexter Gordon begins on February 27, 1923, when he was born in L.A. His father, a doctor whose patients included Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton, encouraged him to take up music theory and harmony at an early age. He studied clarinet, alto, and finally settled on tenor in 1940. He was with Lionel Hampton’s band for three years, worked with such varied leaders as Louis Armstrong and Billy Eckstine, and then spent most of the late ‘40s in New York, where he worked with Charlie Parker, recorded with (among many others) Dizzy Gillespie, and led his own group at 52nd Street’s Three Deuces.

　　　Tow of the six compositions here are Dexter’s: the hard-charging blues titled Home Run; and Jodi; a tune named for his wife on which Gordon (who plays this track with just the rhythm section) conclusively demonstrates his master of the ballad tempo. The other four numbers are the work of the young Washington, D.C., pianist, “Dolo” Coker who along with the high-regarded California drummer, Lawrence Marable, highlights the supporting cast here.

Recent JAZZLAND releases include:

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie Davis Quintet – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S

　　Guitar Groove – Rene Thomas, with J. R. Monterose – JLP 27 & Stereo 927S

　　Takin’ Care of Business – Charlie Rouse, with Blue Mitchell – JLP 19 & Stereo 919S